United
by That Girl From Comicbook Club
Summary: There's more to being a hero than fighting monsters. In the wake of disaster, there might just turn out to be more heroes in Amity Parks than you might think.


Gloved fingers brushed carefully over the glass of the picture frame. (There was a tiny crack in one corner, but that had been there for a long time.) Disaster had struck Amity Parks earlier that day, and Danny Phantom had spent hours extracting people from the rubble. (There had been a number of close calls but, miraculously, no fatalities… so far.) He was taking a short break, just to catch his breath before continuing, and this picture of himself and his friends was a comfort to him. He hadn't seen Sam and Tucker since the disaster, but he'd spoken to them on the Fenton phones and knew they were okay. True to form, they'd kept their heads through it all and were helping others remain calm and organize their efforts.

Almost as quickly as it had come out, the photograph vanished back into an inside pocket of Danny's jumpsuit, and he was on the move again. His quiet moment of reflection (so much had changed since that photo had been taken) was over, and there were people who needed him. He couldn't focus on how things had been or **could** have been (nothing good lay down that road); he was needed here and now.

As he searched through the ruined buildings for anyone who might need his help or any potential dangers caused by the destruction that might need to be remedied (so help him, if that goddamn vat of Nasty Sauce had come to rest against a heat source again…), a part of his mind was recalling all he and his two best friends had been through together. He recalled the early ghost fights, that terrifying day when he'd realized just how real the dangers were, the point at which he'd finally come to accept it. (For some reason, the aftermath of disasters always made him strangely reflective.)

Danny shook his head to clear his thoughts. (It must be the adrenalin rush wearing off and the exhaustion hitting; he'd been at this all day.) He called out, again, for any survivors in the area to make themselves known by whatever means possible, and quickly checked in via Fenton Phones to make sure everything was running smoothly. Help would come at some point, but for the time being the entire town was working on damage control. Everyone who wasn't still in need of rescue or medical attention had a job to do. Even his parents had formed a temporary truce with his ghostly alter-ego, choosing to put aside their differences and cooperate with him in favor of helping those who had not been fortunate enough to be in an armored ghost assault vehicle when the disaster struck.

A tiny hand appeared from behind a piece of rubble in what remained of the elementary school. Carefully (oh so very carefully), Danny moved the rubble aside and found a small child (kindergartener, probably) cradled protectively in the arms of an unconscious but miraculously alive older student (4th, maybe 5th grade?), who seemed to have shielded the younger one. Another average, ordinary person who'd become a hero when the situation had called for it. Danny couldn't count the number of similar scenes he'd seen today. He was indescribably relieved and grateful that, when the chips were down, the people of Amity Parks could step up and do what needed to be done. He carefully lifted the two into his arms, murmuring soothingly to the frightened little one, and flew to the nearest make-shift medical area.

"Danny." It would seem that the hastily constructed medical area he'd dropped the elementary schoolers off at had been the same one where Sam was currently instructing a rag-tag task force. Even though he'd known she was relatively safe and unharmed, it put a part of his mind he hadn't even realized was fretting at ease to see her standing before him, looking no worse for the wear aside from some scrapes and bruises. Judging from the way she was sizing him up, it seemed safe to assume she was feeling the same.

"Sam, I…" He struggled for words, but she understood.

"I know," she said with a slightly weary smile, "go on."

Danny nodded, and flew off to continue his work. There had been no confirmed casualties yet (somehow), but there were still a number of people unaccounted for, and there had already been many close calls.

"Hey! Big kid!" A young ghost in a pirate costume flew up to Danny with a seriousness not befitting his age or usual demeanor. It would seem that even Youngblood could occasionally recognize when it was time to stop playing around. (Indeed, a number of the less malicious of his enemies had temporarily foregone their usual mischief-making to lend a hand; it seemed that many of them, having experienced death themselves, did not wish it on others.) "There's a whole bunch a' little kids and a grown up stuck in the basement at a preschool. I couldn't get 'em out 'cause the little kids're scared a' me, an' the grown up can't see me."

"Alright, show me the way."

"Aye-aye Captain!" the younger ghost saluted and flew off in the direction of the preschool in question. (It was a bit peculiar how easily some of his usual foes would look to him as a leader in an emergency like this.)

The preschoolers in question were significantly more willing to trust the town superhero than a random ghost kid with unnaturally pale skin and bizarrely vivid hair (which likely set off every kid in the room with a fear of clowns), especially after he decided he could spare a few seconds to sign Jimmy's Danny Phantom coloring book (which, Jimmy was proud to say, was made for him by his big brother as a birthday present, which, combined with Danny's autograph, made it officially the best thing ever.")

Once the kids and their care-taker were all freed from the remains of the building (and he'd been informed that the disaster had caused the kids to miss snack time, and it was now close to dinner), he brought them to the make-shift dining area where The Lunch Lady was endeavoring to keep everyone fed despite the difficulties the town's ruined state presented to the idea of people just getting lunch from home or a restaurant.

(She'd never really had anything against the living; her actions largely stemmed from inappropriately expressed concern for the wellbeing of others combined with her belief that a person needed meat in their diet to be healthy.) The Lunch Lady was at her kindest and most understanding. She provided all of the children with meals they found palatable (without even a slight scolding to the picky eaters), and even dished out deserts (without the threats or aggression that usually accompanied her offering of such during a battle). After everything they'd been through, the children could afford to spend a meal eating whatever they pleased.

The Box Ghost (who'd been put to the task of distributing supplies) arrived with none of his usual fanfare and dropped off a couple of crates of foodstuffs without so much as mentioning the box-related powers he used to do so. The air of seriousness, dependability, and quiet competence about him was startling to any who were familiar with his usual way of presenting himself. The Box Ghost was a completely different man when he had a job to do. If The Lunch Lady happened to be a bit intrigued by this new side to his personality that she'd never seen before, well, she could hardly be blamed for that, since she wasn't allowing it to distract her from the task at hand.

Danny grew progressively more tired as the day (and then night and day again) dragged on and he continued his non-stop search-and-rescues. Still, he couldn't call it a day when there was still someone unaccounted for, waiting alone somewhere, likely in need of help. He couldn't leave anyone out there. He could take a nice long rest when it was over. For the time being, someone still needed him, and he wouldn't let them down, even if the strain on him had become obvious enough that other ghosts and ghost hunters were throwing him concerned looks. (Weren't they usually his enemies?)

He barely heard Tucker suggest that he take care of himself from where he was working with Technus (who was being uncharacteristically quiet) to keep communications running.

Finally, finally, everyone was accounted for. Somehow, impossibly, miraculously (how many times had he thought that word today?) there were no deaths. There had been close calls, injuries of every sort, and there were some people hurt badly enough that they were still in danger (some still might not make it), but somehow, fate had smiled upon the town of Amity parks and, at that moment, everyone was alive following the disaster, and they were about as safe as they could be under the circumstances.

As relief flooded the young hero's body, he promptly passed out from exhaustion in a ditch somewhere in town. His friends would find him later and ensure that he was taken care of. After that, the issue of rebuilding and how to move forward from this point would have to be addressed. He'd have to figure out how to explain Danny Fenton's Absence. The temporary truce between the ghosts and the ghost hunters and who-even-knows-who-else probably wouldn't last forever. At some point, that would need to be figured out.

However, for the moment, all that mattered was that the people of Amity Parks were safe and Danny's job was done. The hero of Amity Parks had earned his rest.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom

A/N: I was listening to Unity by Shinedown, and inspiration struck. It turned into the idea of a hero on a rescue mission, which turned into this story about the community of Amity Parks coming together in the aftermath of some big disaster, even those you'd least expect.


End file.
